Yes, today I celebrate the beginning of my 45th revolution around the Sun, meaning I celebrate my 44th Birthday!
How am I celebrating?
Well, I’m at school, or rather, I’ll be doing home visits for some of the new children in my class.
Followed by a staff meeting. Glorious!
And for the pleasure of my dear colleagues, I have ordered some samosas, and have cakes for those who can’t deal with spice. (You know you wanna work with me!)
I sure know how to live, don’t I??!!
But, jokes aside, I am very lucky, as I have been gifted, by my darling Hubby Dearest, a brand new Macbook AIR in gold!
And it’s all pretty and gold, and I am actually typing this post up on it right now!
Oh, it’s so pretty! But so different to my Microsoft Surface! I am having great fun learning all about the functionality differences and working out what I need to relearn, and what I can still do on it by downloading various things. So exciting!
We won’t do anything else. It’s a Tuesday. A rather meh day to have a birthday, what with school the next day, so I am sure a dinner will follow on the weekend, but regardless, I am so happy with my present, I’d forego dinner!
So, I’m off to enjoy the day that is my birthday, and I look forward to using my special new toy for many years to come!!!!
Hi All! I am back, a little more relaxed than last week but stil in a state of frenzy, nonetheless!
If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that yes… it’s been another hectic week in the world of Ritu. (When is it ever not?)
If we were sipping chai together I’d remind you that it was Bank Holiday on Monday last week. We tried to have a chilled one, popped out for lunch as a family, then relaxed at home. I needed as many of those ‘nothing’ days as possible before the craziness we know as school would start!
If we were sipping chai together I’d say that I had an epiphany last week. I need to get back to some form of exercise, and the best exercise for me is walking. A mere stone’s throw from us is the Gurdwara sports park, with a walking/running track. So Lil Man and I decided that we would go for a walk on the Monday evening at around 9 pm. It had been very warm in the day, so this was the perfect time: dusk, cool, but pleasant. The first day we took a couple of laps and came home. The next day, we came at 9 again, ready for some more walking, and we did it. The Gurdwara as a backdrop for my walks is a beautiful serene sight. I did five laps and it was just past 9.30 pm. Then we went to leave, and found ourselves locked in! So much for my exercise! Luckily we found a way out, and I was not detered, coming back the next day too, a little earlier though, so we didn’t get locked in! I felt so much better for this walking.
If we were sipping chai together I have to say though, that my intentions did not last long… On Wednesday, I had to pop into school to chlear up after the cleaners. Makes sense? I know, but the cleaners come in to do a deep clean in the middle of the holidays, pulling all units out, cleaning behind places they wouldn’t normally touch, washing carpets etc. Well, doing that, they somehow managed to totally mix up tables and units, so I had to go and fix it all up. While doing this, I pulled a muscle in my back. It was sore. Oh my, I wasn’t sure if I’d be up to getting to school for my first training day on the Thursday! But I did.
If we were sipping chai together I’d slap my forehead and say “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you…” that we went to see the new film The Lion King! I have been desperate to see these new live remakes, being such a Disney fan, and though I wasn’t disappointed, the magic of the original wasn’t felt by me. But I still enjoyed it. And we watched it in great comfort on leather recliner chairs! Though I[d recommend everyone to go and see the new ALLADIN, or watch it when you can. That was one FAB remake!
If we were sipping chai together I’d say that the INSET days went well, with me being able to meet a new member of my team (she is LOVELY!) and making sure the classroom is as good as I can get it, for now. I am a little disappointed as my new cupboard still hasn’t arrived. I have had to use an old one, and can’t put certain bits and bobs up yet, which is really frustrating, but we will cope. We had a half day training too, about the Working Class, and how to help the impoverished pupils of our community in a way that would benefit them positively, not just pile expectations upon them. There were two guys presenting and one was Rhythmical Mike, a performance poet, who discovered his talent for the spoken word despite having no support as school, cast off as a failure because he was dyslexic, and never given the help he should have had. His words were inspirational, and though I think that as a school, we are pretty fantastic at dealing with a really wide democraphic of pupils within our classes, having a little reminder of what we can do, never hurts.
If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that Friday was a busy day, what with the training, and coping with my still bad back, on top of getting the kids settled at my in laws as I was off out to my head teacher’s wedding reception! It was a lovely evening spent with genuinely wonderful folk, and a beautiful celebration of a great couple! Congrats Mr & Mrs Jack!
If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that after a great night, I had to get up early the next day as we were going to Thorpe Park. This is one of the UK’s big theme parks, famed for its thrill rides. Luckily I didn’t have to drive (thanks to my dear sis-il-law!) but still, we had to leave early to pay an extortionate amount, even with vouchers, to get in, then queue for the pleasure of some crazy rides! I ws quite excited as I’ve never been to Thorpe Park before. One I hadn’t been planning to go on, was the Tidal Wave. And yes, it was WET! Rather like an enlarged log flume, a huge boat that seats 16 climbed up a steep incline, then descended at great speed into the water. The resupting splash was a HUGE tidal wave which erupts into the air, then falls back on top of the boat. There is NO escape! And after looking like I was taking part in a wet T-shirt contest, we waited to be taxiied back to the place we could disembark, and the boat was half in, half out the enclosure. We were on the back half of the boat that was half out. As the next boat descended, it decided to share it’s tidal wave with us, so we got soaked a second time! Then as we walked to the photo booth, we narrowly escaped a third soaking. trying to get away from the waves, we were almost hit a fourth time as we finally left the enclosure! I have to tell you now, I was a responsible mum. I had spare clothes for the drowned rats also known as my children. But did I remember to put extra clothes for me? Nope! We stood in a little drying hut. Actually I used it twice, but it did nothing to dry my jeggings! I walked around for the rest of the day with a wet bottom half, and it was not the best look! Still, the kids enjoyed, so I’m not going to complain! Below, that piece of wood is proof to the state of my jeggings. I sat and left wet imprints of my butt cheeks many hours after coming off that ride! Thorpe Park, you need to sell cheap trousers as well as extortionate T-shirts!
If we were sipping chai together I’d say that on Sunday we started with nail polish removal for Lil Princess, ready for her first day of school on Monday… can’t have her going to her npw secondary school with luminous yellow nails! And I needed my claws cut and infilled too! Then we popped to Bluewater. A leisurely lunch and some shopping ended a lovely week!
See, I told you my week was another Ritu-esque week!
If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d tell you that I am looking forward to my new start, with the kids in my new class. I have a feeling there will be plenty to tell you all every week, just from school days!
If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d remind you that Lil Princess starts Secondary School today. I am no longer a Primary school mum! OMG! Look out for feedback on how she got on!
If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d just slip in that on Tuesday (tomorrow, it might jst be a special day… I’ll be celebrating 44 revolutions around the Sun! Yup, it’s my birthday! I’ll be busy finishing off home visits….
Right, that’s me done Peeps! Let me how your week has been.
“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
Meister Eckhart
Thank you for that, Spidey!
Apt for me this weekend, as tomorrow the new school year officially starts.
Yes, I have been back in school for the last two days of last week as staff training (and we had a brilliant training session involving Ian Gilbert of Independent Thinking and Rhythmical Mike, a poetry and spoken word artist, who came to talk about his beginnings and rough start to school life – there is so much to think of, I can’t tell you now, it would need another post), but it was finishing preparations for the new year, and tomorrow the children start, making it the real beginning of the year.
Of course, being in Reception makes things a little different for us. Our children don’t start straight away. They are the littlies, 4-5 year-olds who have never been to school before, so we can’t chuck them in at the deep end. There will be many pupils in my class that I already know, as they will have come up from my old nursery class. But there are ar least 12 new children in each of the two classes who haven’t attended our nursery. So, for the first 2 days, we will be doing home visits, going to see the child and family in their homes, and giving them a quick introduction to us and school, in a setting familiar to the child.
Then they start on Wednesday, for half days. We will build up to full time by the third week of term, which is actually quite fast, in comparison to the last few years.
There will be plenty of settling in time, and we have to assess, or baseline the children, so we know their capabilities at the start.
And this is all new for me.
A new set of beginnings. A whole ream of firsts.
My first own class
My first own classroom
My first year where what I do, is chosen, and driven by me more
My first year where the progress of a whole class is on my shoulders entirely
And I have a group of children who are going to tax me, going to try me, possibly will give me headaches and cause tears of frustration, but I also know that my intention is to make sure they are also the source of smiles for me too, and happiness, and tears of joy, as I see them progressing in the year.
What I am saying is there are some children with very specific needs within the class, which will add a whole different dynamic to my days.
Am I ready for the challenge?
Of course I am!
Am I nervous?
You’re damn right I am!
Will I pull this year off?
Who knows, but what I do know is that I will give it my all to try and give these children the best start to their academic life!
And every day is a new start. There will be ups and downs, but I always keep in my head the fact that the next day is another chance to try again.
So… tell me, do you consider each can a new start?
August falls in my summer break from school, and I hoped to be reading plenty, though my other priority, #RiNoEdMo, had to take a little presedence. Still, I didn’t do too badly, and read a couple of books in Beta reading capacity too, which I can’t review on here yet!
I’m not sure what I was expecting when I requested this book, but I am definitely glad I did.
Imagine America with a royal family. Imagine knowing you would be Queen one day. Imagine knowing you would never be as important as your sister. Imagine a life where you can’t wear what you want, eat what you want, love who you want…
And all the ups and downs of being a Royal, with all the expectations on you.
We are introduced to the Washington family. This is America’s first family, in a Royal way.
The King and Queen, and their three children; Beatrice, heir to the throne and on course to be the first-ever female monarch of the country, and in love with the wrong person, Samantha, one-half of the Royal twins, a Princess with a mischevious streak, and is in love with the wrong person, and Jefferson, the other twin, a fun-loving eighteen-year-old, who just happens to be a handsome Prince, fighting off the advances of many, yet in love with the wrong person.
A bit of a running theme there.
Forbidden love.
Connor, a member of the Royal Revere Guard. Teddy, or rather Lord Theodore Eaton, a prospective groom for the Heir to the throne. Nina, best friend to Princess Samantha and daughter of a Latino lesbian couple, one of whom happens to be a Cabinet minister. Daphne, titled socialite, and daughter of a Baronet who has spent every moment of her life preparing to be a princess. Ethan, best friend of Prince Jefferson, and holding a torch for someone.
It took me a little while to get into the story, but within a few chapters, I was hooked. My Kindle went everywhere with me, and I would whip it out whenever there was a spare moment to read a little more of the story. I had my own thoughts on what the ending would be, and when it didn’t pan out that way, I was teetering on edge. How could the author leave the book like this? Then the final page told me that American Royals was due out next year, and I heaved a sigh of relief because I really want to know what happens next!
Many thanks to NetGalley, and Penguin Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As I opened the book, the song from The Greatest Showman of the same name kept running through my mind. Quite apt, considering the musical theme that runs through the book.
There are moments in all our lives where we wonder “What if?”
This story was exactly that. The story of Charlie Taylor, a young teacher with a passion for songwriting. She meets Tom, a drummer who plays in her brother’s band.
He turns her life upside down within one meeting. He feels like The One. He understands her music. He makes her feel unbelievable.
Yet her brother goes to many lengths to keep them apart.
A chance meeting a few years later makes her wonder whether she should have heeded her brother’s warnings, or listened to her heart.
Tragedy strikes and she is torn away from him again.
More time passes and she is happy, settled and married, with a wonderful husband, great friends and a life she is more than happy with.
But that “What if?” keeps popping up in her head, on the radio, in magazines…
What if, indeed.
I’ll tell you something, One sign of a good read for me is when I don’t constantly look at the percentage counter on my Kindle, to see how much is left, or how much I have read. With this book, I glanced down at 38%. The next time I looked, it was at 73% and then, it was finished!
It only took me over two days to read, because kids needed their mother, but a wonderful read. I’d recommend, definitely.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve dipped in and out of this book by @humblethepoet over the last couple of months and found different meanings to what I read each time. Definitely a book not to be devoured in one sitting, but to ponder upon in a leisurely fashion. There might be a little repetition in it. It’s not necessarily the most literarily correct book, but the thoughts behind the chapters resonate.
This was just my kind of feel-good story, about sisterhood and family.
Julia makes a major mistake while on air, as co-anchor for a daytime TV show. The consequences aren’t pretty, and she just needs to get far away. Of all the places in the world, it ends up being her home town in Arizona that pulls her close. Better weather than New York, yes, but she has to overcome the cold from her older sister Ginny who she hasn’t spoken to for three years, since their’ parent’s death. Ginny, a Michelin starred chef, who gave up all her accolades in New York, to manage her parent’s affairs after their untimely demise. After accepting that she wasn’t going anywhere fast, Ginny sets up a secret supper club, with the begrudging help of her daughter, Olive. Julia walks into a tension that is high, and drama that is higher. Will her sister even want her there? Will her employers want her back?
Well, you have to read it to find out!
I enjoyed the whole concept of the story, and though there were romantic elements, I liked how it concentrated on the relationship between the two women.
I would recommend this as an easy read, with a heartwarming ending.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A collection of short stories by award-winning author Cecelia Ahern. What’s not to like? This was a collection of 30 well-written stories, all woman-centric, with a moral behind most. I could have read it in one sitting, but I didn’t want, to as it felt better to read a couple at a time and digest them.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
An absolutely hilarious recount of being a mum on the 21st century! I have to say, I laughed eleventy billion times and guffawed out loud a good few too! Yup, so many bits I could relate to, though, as a near tee-totaller (apart from the odd gin) my eleven-year-old daughter did question my choice of book, given that I don’t drink, and why family is a “sentence”, looking at the cover! Funny. And I am looking forward to seeing why we swear next!
Welcome to the world of Ellen, or a more realistic Bridget Jones as a mother, with plenty of sweariness! As I said after the first book Why Mummy Drinks, I caught myself giggling eleventy billion times. I could picture scenes in this book identifying with some parts, and nodding at the absurd situations Ellen managed to get herself into. Her moppets, Peter and Jane are brilliant. In fact Jane is the fictional version of my 11 year old, and I actually sent her a photo of the passage where Jane was insisting on an Instagram account at 11… yes. We’ve been there, done that, she’s not got the app! My only niggle? Jane turns twelve in the book, yet she’s still in Year 6 at primary? Sorry if it’s picky, but I am a primary school teacher, and really, this should have been her first year in secondary school… Other than that, really funny book. I read it in a couple of days, and look forward to checking out the third installment!
I’ve been swimming in a week of Ellen and her Eleventy Billion issues with her children, from primary age woes to the beginnings of teen craziness, Dealing with marital ups and downs, handling life as a working mother. Today I finished the third in the Why Mummy trilogy, and I wasn’t disappointed. Okay, so I didn’t giggle out loud as much. In fact, I even had a cry, especially at ‘that’ point with Ellen and her father. I won’t say what, but when you read it, you’ll know! (I’m a sucker for emotion, and anything to do with father/daughter relationships gets me, any time! It was a fitting end to the current phase, Ellen is going through. Not a tied up happy ending, but it finished, knowing there was light at the end of the tunnel. I’d love to know if Gill Simms is planning on another sequel, detailing the joy of parenting adults too! Loved each one, and definitely recommended!
Amanda Prowse has fast become one of my favourite authors, with her way of weaving a story, so relatable and believable that you could be living it yourself, or you may even imagine knowing someone in the same situation.
The Light In The Hallway is no different.
We are taken on a journey with Nick, a grieving widower and father, who is still young enough to be in his prime, yet old enough to ‘really know better’. At home, alone, having dropped his son to University, he begins to wonder how his life will pan out. How is he to greave? How long for? And with a sister-in-law hell-bent on making sure he abides by the rules society have set, regarding being a widower, and a son who is finding it hard to accept his mother’s death, it’s not easy.
Alongside Nick’s story, runs a parallel tale from nearly thirty years before, involving Nick and his two best friends, Eric and Alex. Three young boys, at the beginning of their summer holiday, given a challenge by Nick’s dad to build a bike. And they do. They complete that challenge, and experience a whole host of ups and downs along with it, proclaiming it the best summer.
The friendship provides Nick with a lot of support while he comes to terms with losing his childhood sweetheart and wife, Kerry.
This was a bittersweet tale about loss, and expectations, coupled with hope, and a definite recommended read from me! Mrs Amanda Prowse, I am guessing there will be many calls for a follow-up. We will all want to know what happens to Eric!
May thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published 11th November
This was my first foray into Japanese literature, and I chose to read Before The Coffee Gets Cold because the blurb sounded intriguing, It was initially very hard for me to get into the book because I found the translated version a little stilted, but the subject matter kept me interested. I did get a little confused with characters as there were a lot of K names! It was interestingly written, with all four of the mini-stories within interweaving within one another, but as I mentioned before, it was hard to keep up sometimes. Having said that the ending was very heartwarming. Many thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Picador for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published 19th September
The Confession is my first Jessie Burton book, and I have a feeling I may go searching for her previous two now…
The Confession is a story of self-discovery, told in two time trails.
We meet Rose in the present; a woman who is trying to find her mother or any information about her. A mother who disappeared when she was a baby, Rose is stuck in a life rut. In a relationship that is just floating along the surface of the sea of life, in a boring job, with nothing to look forward to.
Then we travel to 1982 where we are introduced to Elise, an impressionable young woman, whose dreary life gets a wash of colour after meeting an up and coming author, Constance Holden.
Connie Holden is a common thread for both the women, and the stories that progress in both time frames, able to provide excitement for Elise, and answers for Rose.
What a fantastically told story! I found myself willing Rose to be brave, to ask all the questions she needed to ask. I wanted Elise to be strong, and not crumble under the pressures life put her under. And Constance, or Connie? I wanted her to soften…
Did she? Did any of them achieve what I hoped? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!
Many thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Picador for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was so pleased to be able to read the sequel to Wildflower Heart, as I had really enjoyed, it, warmed to the characters and the situations.
Kara Hart has much to grieve over, from the death of her husband, after a car accident, in which she suffered multiple injuries, and the loss of her best friend who she thought was in cahoots with her husband. This is followed by the death of her father. She seeks solace in the form of medications that threaten to push her over the edge. On top of dealing with life, Kara has muddled relationships building with Seth, the neighbour who is working away, and Will, the Landscape gardener who is helping her realise her dreams, and assisting her in making her own father’s hopes materialise too.
Author Grace Greene has tackled some extremely tough situations with a beautiful delicacy, such as loss, grief and addictions. Her descriptions are wonderful too. I could picture the wildflower fields and all the different locations in the book, which always adds to my enjoyment of a book!
A beautifully told tale and I can’t wait to find out what is next in the Wildflower series! Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
But I Smile Anyway... 